On the pages of VO it was repeatedly noted that myth-making in history is a harmful and dangerous thing, that nothing should be underestimated, but it should not be exaggerated either. That we have a glorious enough history without aggravating it, that it is not our fault, that we do not have enough sources for many events, there are no details, but our history does not get any worse without them. Well, there are few details in the annals of the Battle of the Ice, but one phrase in the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle completely redeems their absence: "Prince Alexander was glad that he won the victory!" And what else is needed? The enemies themselves admit that the victory was on our side, well, we will be happy with that! And how many blatant absurdities are there in the description of the Battle of Kulikovo? But did we win? We won! Do you know how Mamai ended his life? It is known! Well, that's okay …
But about times not so distant from us, it would seem, it is even easier to write: I went to the archive, ordered the necessary cases, looked and … on this basis appear in print, indicating the number of cases and pages. You can quote them verbatim, it will only get better. But no, even today there are people who continue to replicate myths, so one can only wonder - why are they doing this ?!
I am holding in my hands the next 5th issue of the Tekhnika-Youth magazine dedicated to Victory Day. It has a section "OK Club", and it contains an article by Vladimir Pluzhnikov with drawings by the author "Do not go into the canister", dedicated to … yes, all the same AA tank. Porokhovshchikova! What can be objected to this? Nothing! On the pages of VO, there were materials about him more than once, so why not write about him and the popular magazine TM? It's another matter … how and what to write, and that's what I want to talk about again. There is a whole article about this "tank" in Wikipedia, there are many articles on Yandex and Google, including mine, as well as articles by other authors. You can look, compare, become interested in the discrepancy between interpretations and information blocks and … conduct your own, albeit a little research - so who is right after all? Those who argue that it was a "miracle of Russian technical thought" ahead of its time and died from the inertia of incompetent tsarist military experts, or … "an invention without a future," crude and absolutely unrealizable, but capable of affecting weak minds.
And how did V. Pluzhinikov act in this case? You don't even need to guess! I chose the first version and … printed it without even thinking that it was spreading absurdities all over the country. Which? And here: "On the middle course, the tank overcame a ditch with a top width of 3 m and a depth of about ¾ m, with a steepness of slopes of about 40 degrees." Well, the question immediately arises: how did the car with a length of 3.6 m overcome a ditch 3 m wide? What's this? A Batmobile with wings?
Further, a completely "patriotic" attack in the spirit of the day against the West (just like in the books of 1948): "… weapons in a rotating turret (which was not in the first foreign tanks)." But … there was no tower on the "All-terrain vehicle"! Well, and the fact that he “foresaw” it, the British also “provided” the towers on their tanks … There is even a photo. And what does V. Pluzhnikov not know about this? Or, on the contrary, he knows, but tries to write "in the spirit of the day"?
Further - even more interesting. "In order not to hold back the tests … the body of the car was first made of wood, at first doing without a turret and weapons." And then: “The armor protection was made of cemented and hardened thin sheets. To soften the bullet impacts, the sheets were separated by soft spacers. First, individual armor sheets were tested, then an "armored box" (body) was made. Putting it on the chassis of a passenger car, they tested it for bullet penetration and overall rigidity."
Is it clear what this is about? Not really, right? Well, this is one of the methods of myth-making: write in such a way as to create an impression. And it was created: that the body of the "All-terrain vehicle" was made of armor! In fact, the armor proposed by A. A. Porokhovshchikov had nothing to do with the Vsezdokhod corps (but it is not clear from the text of this!). She stood on the car (there is a photo!) In the form of flat sheets and … that's it! However, this did not stop later authors from stating that the All-Terrain Vehicle was designed specifically for this super-armor with a lining of seaweed - an idea that, of course, innocently strangled by bad tsarist officials. But the fact remains: firstly, the Mexican insurgents on the Pancho Villa's “armored car” used a similar design armor with "sea grass", and secondly - even Porokhovshchikov himself, proving his tank superiority, did not recall this armor - she was a separate project and completely independent from the "All-terrain vehicle"! Moreover, after shelling it, it was concluded that conventional five-millimeter armor provides exactly the same protection, but is lighter and less voluminous.
It should be added to this that the rubber caterpillar-tape had no corrugation, and the drums themselves did not have annular grooves, that is, the slipping of the caterpillar along the drums was ensured. And the question is, how do you fix a torn rubber track on the battlefield? Just change? In the 1920s, the French tried to install such tracks on Renault FT-17 tanks. And nothing came of them! But we found out: the track from the tracks can be repaired. Rubber - no! Hence the conclusion: the promised high cross-country ability of the car was, shall we say, doubtful. Yes, but "it" also had to float - but for this the plywood case had to be airtight. The all-terrain vehicle was supposed to move on the water by rewinding the caterpillar, and to steer - with the steering wheels, and it is obvious that both speed and controllability, even with complete calm, would be equal to zero for it. In general, Porokhovshchikov showed himself much better as an aviator than a BTT designer.
On the other hand, on September 25, 1916, the Novoye Vremya newspaper published an article entitled Land Fleet, translated from the London Times. It talked about machines called "tank" (and this name was translated as "tub") and Porokhovshchikov's news, apparently, touched a heart, and he wrote an "answer" to it - "The land fleet is a Russian invention!" which appeared in Novoye Vremya four days later. In it, he wrote that his car is the prototype of the English "tubers". Anyone familiar with the device of the British Mk. I tank, which was mentioned in this article, can himself look for the degree of similarity of both machines. But hardly anyone would argue that there is no similarity in principle. Even the single-track running gear did not become Porokhovshchikov's know-how, because back in 1832 (!) The Englishman George Giktot tested a steam tractor with one cloth caterpillar.
Here in January 1917 A. A. Porokhovshchikov presented the project "Cross-country vehicle No. 2". It was a tracked vehicle with conventional armor: by this time he was obviously tired of promoting his "seaweed sandwich". But on the other hand, he put on it an original "multi-storey" tower - of three independently rotating rings, each of which was supposed to contain a machine gun. They were supposed to be controlled, of course, by three machine gunners, and the fourth crew member was the driver and sat in the hull, and in case of need he could fire a machine gun in the frontal armor plate. The military considered the project, and in the report on it they indicated that three machine gunners in one tower would not fit - especially since Porokhovshchikov for some reason did not indicate how they should be located there. Such important design details as the system for feeding cartridges, withdrawing spent cartridges and cooling machine guns were not worked out. As a result, the verdict: "The commission finds that the project of the" All-terrain vehicle "designed by Porokhovshchikov in its present form does not deserve any attention." Again, the world experience of using such towers was? Was! On the Spanish tank "Trubia" the tower was double, with two machine guns and … it turned out that it was almost impossible for two machine gunners to work in it. Two machine guns and two people! And then three …
In 1922, the newspaper "Izvestia VTsIK" published an article "The motherland of the tank is Russia." It hinted that the corrupt tsarist satraps handed over to England documents on the "All-terrain vehicle", and that, they say, it was this documentation that served as the basis for the creation of the first British tanks. Why such an article was needed is clear - it was necessary to cheer the people up, to show that the "Englishwoman" with her tanks is not scary to us, but they stole them from us. The fact that the tanks "Killen Straight", "Little Willie" and Mk. I only in a drunken sleep can be considered similar to Porokhovshchikov's car did not bother anyone. Soon the article was forgotten, especially since Porokhovshchikov himself was shot in 1941 for espionage. But after the Great Patriotic War, they remembered about it and began to replicate it. And why is also understandable. It was necessary to cheer up the people and show that the "Land of Soviets" is ahead of the whole planet. True, the frankly far-fetched fiction about the transfer of drawings to England was still not repeated. But on the other hand, the "All-terrain vehicle" itself was now drawn only in this way: with a body made of armor instead of plywood, with an indispensable machine-gun turret above the driver's seat and, understandably, without a full-forehead air intake, which would indeed look extremely inappropriate on a tank. By the way, he is not even in the author's drawing of V. Pluzhnikov in the TM magazine - and why is he in such articles ?!
And now about the "inert tsarist generals." After all, when Porokhovshchikov turned to the Special Committee for Strengthening the Fleet with his proposal and promised a lot, he did not provide any specific drawings. And only on January 9, 1915, at a reception with the chief of supply of the North-Western Front, General Danilov, he posted ready-made drawings and an estimate for the construction of his "all-terrain vehicle". So that we can talk about their excessive gullibility. After all, they approved the project, gave permission to build, and the money - 9660 rubles 72 kopecks - was discharged. At the same time, the design data for the car were stipulated in a special report No. 8101. And that would be for V. Pluzhnikov to go to the archive, since it is located in Moscow, and not in Podolsk, and you can get there by metro, and see this report itself and others, materials attached to it. Then he would have learned that the expense for the "tank" was 10,118 rubles 85 kopecks, and for some reason Porokhovshchikov included money for the purchase of two pistols, seven dads and even … "tips to couriers in Petrograd." And what? You can't forbid living beautifully, especially on state money! Well, and in the report on the test results it was indicated that "the built example of the" All-terrain vehicle "did not show all those qualities that were due to report No. 8101, for example, he could not walk on loose snow about 1 foot deep (30 cm), and water was not done … ". So there was no need to write to V. Pluzhnikov that "the Russian military authorities did not find money for the serial implementation of the project." There was nothing to serially implement!
So, it turns out who we have the old myths of the Soviet era revives - one of the constant authors of TM. And this despite the fact that, as already noted, the necessary archive is at his side!
What is the bottom line? As a result, there is such a miracle - a "myth-model" on the Karopka.ru website - a forum for modelers. And again, there is nothing wrong with this model itself - well, it could be so - so we have a model from an alternative history and why shouldn't it be ?! Another bad thing: in the comments during its discussion, I came across the following text: Mikhail Ukolov. Lyubertsy, 31 years old. “Few people know that in 1913 an aircraft designer
A. A. Porokhovshchikov created such a unique prototype of all-terrain vehicles. There was even a more powerful version of it - All-terrain vehicle number 2, armed with 4 machine guns, but his project was meanly sold to the British. This is how the famous "rhombuses" appeared. Moreover, it is known that Porokhovshchikov also developed an improved All-Terrain Vehicle No. 3 - it was meanly taken to America and served as a prototype for the Christie tank and, accordingly, the T-34. It is necessary to open a monument to Porokhovshchikov as the father of world tank building. January 5, 2015, 15:01 ".
Here, as they say, neither subtract nor add! I don't even want to comment on this, because here on the pages of VO people are found mostly knowledgeable and … let them laugh at this a little! How do they sometimes write here - "why are you smoking or what kind of mushrooms do you eat?" But the laugh turns out to be bitter. Patriotism is, of course, good and every decent citizen of his country must be a patriot. But not like that! I am sure that we do not need such ignorant patriots! And we don't need the myths that create them either, that's enough, time has passed for them, and the archives and files needed by historians (at least in relation to the "Porokhovshchikov tank") have long been, thank God, open! By the way, if this is, as they say now, "funny", then it is bad - someone younger might think that this is the way it is!
As for TM, then, as they say, "God will judge them." I collaborated with this publication from 1996 to 2007, they published my magazine "Tankomaster" and two more "umbrella brands" to it: "Aviamaster" and "Flotomaster". But it was said by the ancients: "Plato, you are my friend, but the truth is dearer!"
PS: By the way, what did you need to write? And it was necessary to write that the Russian land has always been rich in talents. That back in 1914 there was a man who thought of … managed to interest the military, tried to create, but for reasons of a subjective nature - all people are people and they have their own shortcomings - he could not adequately complete the project. However, the military did not even think about how to support his work with well-educated engineers, create a team and, after deducting money for pistols, hats and "tips for couriers" from the inventor's salary, continue working! Well, and the author of the article, most likely living in Moscow, can only be reminded that no one canceled the work in the archives, and that the correspondent card of the TM employee is a good key in all respects. Therefore, those who have it usually do not have problems with finding new and really interesting information!
